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[EDIT: 4/27/2014 I found the copyright renewal in this database, so I've removed the docx file. Sorry about that.]

This is the last of his works that I can find online that are out of copyright. This English translation was published in 1936. It was originally written in Danish in 1844. It was the first of three works written under the pseudonym Johannes Climacus (hence the J.C. initials at the end of the Preface).

Robert Moore, a reviewer on Amazon.com calls this "one of Kierkegaard's most essential works." He summarizes it thus:

"In this work and in its successor, Kierkegaard, employing the pseudonym of Johannes Climacus, seeks to explain the nature of Christianity in such as way as to bring out its demands on the individual, and to emphasize its incompatibility with the theology based on the work of Hegel that was becoming progressively more influential in Denmark.... In PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS...he wants to present the problem of Christianity 'algebraically' (i.e., logically), while in the ironically titled CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS (ironic because the earlier book is quite short, while the POSTSCRIPT is four times longer) [he] intends to 'clothe the problem in historical dress.' ...

"The title is badly translated in all English editions, being a Biblical reference, to the story of the rich man Dives and Lazarus. Just as the poor man Lazarus had to be content with the crumbs from the rich man's table, so Johannes Climacus, who passionately denies that he has any contributions whatsoever to make to the grand Hegelian System, claims to be content with mere philosophical crumbs. For some reason, no publisher or translator has been willing to employ the more accurate if less palatable PHILOSOPHICAL CRUMBS. [This is no longer true; the Oxford World's Classics edition of 2009 uses this title.]

"Johannes Climacus presents the heart of the conflict between Hegel and Christianity in the first chapter. In Hegelian thought, Jesus in essence is viewed as the non-unique Son of God, and sees him as important for his teachings and the example for others for a transition to all people potentially becoming children of God. The emphasis is on the teachings, and the 'truth' of Jesus can be construed as that which he taught. Kierkegaard thinks this is profoundly mistaken, and tries to get at the problem by a thought project that opens the book. Kierkegaard contrasts two kinds of teacher. One is the kind of teacher found in Socrates, where he is able to assist others in learning things because they already had the capacity to learn them. In the case of the Socratic teacher, the individual instructor is not essential to learning the truth. But Kierkegaard asks us to consider a second kind of teacher, one who not merely teaches us the truth, but provides the conditions for making such learning possible. This second kind of teacher is essential to someone learning the Truth, and it is this kind of teacher that Kierkegaard sees as representing Christ. The problem, as Kierkegaard understands it, is that we are separated from God by sin, and therefore we are in a position of needing to be restored to a relationship with God before coming to know God. Jesus is therefore not an accidental teacher of truths of a divine nature, but himself the essential foundation for anyone wanting to come to know God. In other words, for Kierkegaard, Christianity is an event and not a set of teachings: the incarnation of God in Christ as opposed to the things he wanted to teach us.

"The remainder of the book explicates this essential distinction between the Christ of Christianity and the Jesus of Hegel. In particular, he deals with the question of the 'disciple at second hand' versus the 'contemporary disciple.' This is essential to consider because while Hegel is thought to take history seriously, his Jesus becomes nonhistorical, while Kierkegaard is intent on emphasizing his historicity."

[EDIT: 4/27/2014 I found the copyright renewal in this database, so I've removed the docx file. Sorry about that.]

Thanks! I have added some language tagging so Logos can handle the Greek better (for some reason Latin tagging no longer seems to help with my 4.6 setup) as well as links to Plato and Diogenes L. (I have been tagging a Clement of Alexandria work and so have been doing a lot of Plato...)

SDG

Ken McGuire

The Gospel is not ... a "new law," on the contrary, ... a "new life." - William Julius Mann

Thanks! I have added some language tagging so Logos can handle the Greek better (for some reason Latin tagging no longer seems to help with my 4.6 setup) as well as links to Plato and Diogenes L. (I have been tagging a Clement of Alexandria work and so have been doing a lot of Plato...)

SDG

Ken McGuire

Peace to all! *smile*

To Rosie and Ken! Thank you so very much for continuing to enrich my life and the lives of so many of your Brothers and Sisters! I thank you; and I thank our Gracious God and Father for you and for the Great Fruits of Sanctification in the lives of both of you!

In English, we know that the present tense describes something happening right now. It informs us of the time when an action takes place.

In Greek, however, the present tense primarily tells us the type of action. The Greek present tense indicates continued action, something that happens continually or repeatedly, or something that is in the process of happening. If you say, for instance, "The sun is rising," you are talking about a process happening over a period of time, not an instantaneous event. The Greeks use the present tense to express this kind of continued action.

In contrast, Greek uses the aorist tense to show simple action. An aorist verb simply tells you that something happened, with no indication of how long it took. Aorist is like a snapshot; present is like a video.

Anyway, a big, big Thank You! *smile*

Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........

Yes, I get those warnings too. Hadn't noticed before. That's because I formatted all the Latin quotes in Word with Language = "Latin" so avoid the spellcheck errors. I guess Logos doesn't handle Latin text that way, as it does with Greek. It's OK to ignore the warnings, though.

I get the warnings too in 4.6. Ideally, tagging something with a language will allow Logos to bring up the right dictionary when clicked, etc. But somehow this functionality seems to only work for Latin for PB's that are ALL Latin. Latin excerpts do not seem to work. But I tag them so that they don't confuse the Word dictionary and also in the hope that this feature will work better at some time in the future.

SDG

Ken McGuire

The Gospel is not ... a "new law," on the contrary, ... a "new life." - William Julius Mann